Page 233 of Vile Boys

And I will happily take my last shower in a spray of their blood.

Crystal

My whole bodyshakes as I huddle in a corner, just like the others.

I have no clue where I am or how long I’ll remain.

The moment I was shoved into that van, all my senses went into overdrive, but the blindfold they put around our heads made it impossible to know where they took us. They only let us take it off once we were in this cell, where we’ve remained.

I promised my father I would never fear the life I was given, but I can’t stop the terror from slowly eating me alive. I wasn’t scared of the Tartarus boys, but the prospect of being sold to someone I don’t even know, someone of any age, of any type, makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

When the door opens up again, I hide into a pillar, hoping they don’t pick me as one of them steps inside the cell.

“You.” The guard’s stern voice isn’t what makes me look.

It’s the gun pushed into my skin.

“It’s your turn. Get up.”

With my heart beating in my throat, I crawl up from the floor and the guard grabs my arm and shoves me toward the door. I take one more glance back at the other people in the cell before the door is shut.

“Where are we going?” I mutter under my breath, already regretting having asked a question.

He pushes the barrel into my back, and I’m very conscious of thefact that I could be taking my last breath at any moment. That this could be my last few steps before I’m sold to the highest bidder. Before my body no longer belongs to me.

We walk into a long hallway and go left, toward a crooked, wooden staircase in the back.

“Up the stairs,” the guard growls, shoving me forward.

Above me is a bright light shining down onto a stage.

“Don’t speak unless you’re spoken to.”

Oh God. It’s happening again.

“Do as you’re told or you will feel pain. Understood?”

I nod, but I don’t feel physically present as I slowly turn into myself, desperate for this to stop.

Still, my feet move up, each step slowly pulling my mind into oblivion until I get to the top.

The guard nudges me toward the stage. In the middle, the same woman I recognize from before stands at a microphone and clears her throat.

“Our next girl has been on the stage previously, you may recognize her from when we had to move to this location. As you can tell, she is still well behaved, well trained.” She swirls her finger around, and I spin again, just like I was told to do last time. “A perfect girl for whatever cravings you may have.”

She holds up her hand, and I stop. “Bidding starts at a hundred and eighty thousand.”

A guy in the back raises a paddle. “Hundred and ninety.”

“Two hundred,” another guy calls out.

I shiver in place, trying to remember the voices and imprint them in my brain so I can recognize whoever tried to buy me if I ever meet them again.

“Two twenty,” the next one says.

I feel like cattle being sold on the market for breeding.

My eyes find the guard in the back, his gun fixated on my legs to make sure I get the message: If you fight, we will shoot.

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